WASHINGTON INSIGHT

EARLY MOVES: Nobody’s challenging him for the Democratic nomination, but President Clinton isn’t taking chances: The White House is planning early presidential trips to crucial caucus and primary states to make sure Democrats there don’t feel neglected. First up is caucus state Iowa, where Clinton plans an April 25 “summit meeting” on rural affairs. Clinton will visit New Hampshire, site of the nation’s first 1996 primary, on June 11 to speak at Dartmouth College’s commencement ceremony. He also plans half a dozen trips to California in 1995. Aides leaked the date of the New Hampshire trip early to spare Clinton, and themselves, the agony of a guessing game over his first trip there--a mistake George Bush made in 1992 by insisting he saw no need to rush to New Hampshire and then delaying so long that insurgent Patrick J. Buchanan pulled more than a third of the vote.

*

OUTER CIRCLE: Guards at the White House entry point for staff and VIPs were skeptical about the woman standing before them one day last week. “The name is Browner,” she was overheard to say. “I’m the EPA administrator. You should have my picture.” Poor Carol Browner. When Clinton appointed her to head the Environmental Protection Agency two years ago, he promised to elevate the post to Cabinet status, but failed because of a snafu in the Senate. Now, two years into the Administration, she’s such an infrequent White House visitor that guards fail to recognize her.

*

PENTAGON PIROUETTE: The Defense Department is having second thoughts about its $1.2-billion renovation of the Pentagon. Defense Secretary William J. Perry has ordered creation of a task force to decide whether to go ahead with the project, which involves remodeling the five-sided complex one “wedge” at a time, replacing the heating and refrigeration plant, installing a new incinerator for burning classified documents and adding an extra story where the basement mezzanine now stands. The Pentagon has spent only $412.5 million so far, and could save a bundle if it cut back. Pentagon spokesman Kenneth H. Bacon said Perry ordered the review because he is looking for ways to save money. Another factor was racket from the renovations, which penetrated even Perry’s office. “People began complaining about the noise, and a group of people sat down one day and said: ‘What’s going on here? What is this plan?’ ” Bacon said.

*

TUNING IN: Having difficulty finding Clinton’s weekly radio address? That’s because only one station in Los Angeles chooses to carry it: KUSC-FM (91.5). The public station airs the short weekly broadcast live at 7:06 a.m. Saturdays and repeats it at 2:45 p.m., followed on both occasions by the Republican response. The station’s affiliates in Ventura County, Santa Barbara and elsewhere also carry the remarks.

*

ARTS BLOOPER: Barry Gordon, president of the Screen Actors Guild in Los Angeles, wrote to House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Tex.) several weeks ago to say that the guild’s board of directors had voted to urge Congress to continue full funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and similar organizations. On March 10, Gordon’s office received a reply. “I agree completely with your comments about the NEA,” Armey wrote. “You will be pleased to know that I have voted and will continue to vote to reduce or eliminate funding for this agency at every opportunity.” Gordon’s response, sent last week: “I am hoping that your mistaken response to my letter was at least as inadvertent as your recent ‘slip of the tongue’ regarding Rep. Barney Frank,” the Massachusetts Democrat whom Armey had called a “fag.”